Providing Accessible Diagnostic Evaluations and Psychoeducation for Autism Spectrum Disorder in Rural Southwest Virginia

Parents will attend two 60-minute (i.e. one day per week, for the next two weeks), in-person psychoeducation sessions on the MAC, in or near their hometown. During these sessions, a clinician will discuss a series of psychoeducation topics supplemented with PowerPoint slides. Across the two sessions, the following topics will be covered: (1) signs/symptoms and epidemiology of ASD, (2) risk factors associated with developing ASD (e.g., genetics, neurobiology, environment, social motivation), (3) navigating the IEP process, and (4) evidence-based best practices recommended for their child's profile of ASD symptoms and co-occurring conditions. This delivery method will allow parents to ask questions and receive immediate, live, and detailed answers from an expert clinician, to focus on specific examples relevant to their child, and to foster ASD knowledge and efficacy in helping their child.

Parents in this group will attend two 60-minute sessions, remotely via a live video chat platform, rather than in-person. Otherwise, it will follow the same format and PowerPoint materials as the IP Group. Sessions will still be facilitated by a clinician, thus maintaining the option to ask questions, discuss personalized examples, etc. For families without computer and internet access, the family will be assisted with to connecting to internet access at a private and convenient location (e.g., a church, library, or local community services agency). In the event that this is not possible, the family will be randomized to one of the other two groups.

Parents in this group will receive basic paper psychoeducation resources, distributed at their feedback session. It will be up to each parent how frequently and diligently these resources are reviewed. This should be akin to what a family might have access to at their pediatric or primary care office. To be consistent across study groups, the materials produced for these parents will be comprehensive and will include the same span of content as the PowerPoint slides used in the other two groups, but without structured sessions facilitated by a clinician. Upon distribution of materials, parents will be provided with our contact information and encouraged to reach out if any questions occur. Parents in the paper informational materials group will have the option to complete two in-person or video conference psychoeducation sessions after the end of the study, if preferred (i.e., 6 months later).